Our Favourite Science Fiction books

Science fiction is a favourite of ours here at World of Books. We love nothing more than escaping to a fantastic dystopian world, filled to the brim with aliens, tech and spaceships. We have found our top five favourite science fiction novels below.

This book follows an American astronaut, Mark Watney as he becomes stranded on Mars in 2035 and he must improvise in order to survive. Adapted into a film in 2015 with Matt Damon as the lead role, this book peaked our interest in 2014 when it was re-released by Crown Publishing.

Andy Weir has a background in computer science and began writing this book in 2009, he researched material so that it would as realistic as possible and based on existing technology.

In 2016, Andy Weir won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer at the Hugo Awards.

Nineteen Eighty-Four or 1984 by George Orwell is a novel set in Great Britain whose residents are victims of government surveillance and public manipulation. The leader of the Inner Party is known as Big Brother.

Many of the terms coined by 1984 such as Big Brother, doublethink, Room 101, thoughtcrime, 2 + 2 = 5 and memory hole have all entered the vocabulary since the book’s publication in 1949.

Now this book was transformed for the big screen directed by Steven Speilberg this year. The story is set in dystopian 2040 and follows Wade Watts on his search for an Easter Egg in a worldwide virtual reality fame, the discovery of which will lead him to inherit the game creator’s fortune.

Last year, Ernest Cline confirmed that he would be creating a sequel to this fantastic novel. We certainly can not wait for that here at World of Books!

The War of the Worlds is one of the most commented science fiction novels. It is a first-person narrative with an unnamed protagonist, which makes them leap into action when their world is invaded by Martians.

Written by H.G. Wells between 1895 and 1897 it is one of the earliest stories that details a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race.

This book has spawned seven films as well as radio dramas, comic books, video games and a television series. So whether you have not become familiar with the original story, you must have come across an adaptation of some kind.

A comedy science fiction series created by Douglas Admas was originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978 but it was later adapted to other formats, including stage shows, novels, comic books, 1981 TV series and a film in 2005.

The novels have been translated into 30 languages by 2005. The narrative follows the misadventures of Arthur Dent following the demolition of planet Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass.